“Hey,” I say, dropping into a crouch in front of her, cupping her cheek to turn her face to me. “Hey, sweetheart, look at me.”
Her eyes blink open a little, unfocused.Christ.I’m immediately hit with the fact that there is only one situation in which I enjoy her looking at me like that, and it is not half-conscious and trashed on a bathroom floor. “Gray?”
I brush a piece of hair back from her damp cheek. “Yeah. It’s me.”
She stares at me for a second like she’s trying to make sure I’m real. Then her mouth pulls into the smallest, drunkest smile I’ve ever seen.“Missed you.”
I huff a very slightly amused breath and glance at the blonde woman outside the stall. “You the one who called me?”
She nods. “Yeah.”
“How long has she been like this?”
“Maybe twenty, twenty-five minutes? I'm not sure. I saw her stumble in here and followed her in.”
I nod once. “Thank you for staying with her.”
“Of course.” She hesitates. “Do you need help?”
“No, I’ve got her.”I turn back to Carly, gathering her heels by the strap on one finger. “Can you stand for me, sweetheart?”
She considers this with utter seriousness, her hands clutching an unused paper towel. “Mmm... maybe. Prob’ly bad idea.”
“Okay.” I slide one arm behind her back and the other under her knees. “Then I’m carrying you.”
Her hands slide clumsily around my neck as I lift her. She makes a tiny, surprised sound, then melts against me, her forehead resting against my throat.
“Got your shoes,” I grunt.
“My hero,” she mumbles into my collar.
“Yeah, yeah. Are you missing anything else?”
The blonde laughs softly under her breath and places Carly’s purse on her stomach. “Think that’s all she came with.”
“Thank you.”
The walk to my car feels longer than it should. Every few steps, she drunkenly says something that hits me square in the chest, and I keep finding myself stopping.
“M’sorry,” she murmurs first, words blurring together. “Didn’t mean t’be gross.”
“You’re not gross.”
“I threw up s’much.”
“I gathered that.” I readjust her slightly as I push the exit door open with my hip and shoulder.
“Tried t’be normal.” Her forehead presses into my neck. “Sarah’ssoannoying.”
A breathy chuckle escapes me. “Aaron, too.”
“She talks t’much.”
“I know.”
“And I really—” she hiccups, “—like you.”
My grip tightens on her. “Yeah?”
